Method of making comfortables from continuous fabric



(No Model.)

I. L. PALMER. METHOD OF MAKING GOMPORTABLBS FROM CONTINUOUS FABRIC. No.354,806.

Patented Dec; 21, 1886.

N PETERS Phqkr Lililogrnphor. Wnhingmn. n a

- UNITE STATES PATENT FFICE.

FRANK L. PALMER, NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT.

METHOD OF MAKING COMFORTABLES FROM CONTINUOUS FABRIC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354,806, dated December21, 1886.

Application filed April 8, 1886. Serial No. 198,192. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK L. PALMER, of the city and county of NewLondon, in the State of Connecticut, have invented a new and" -is tosay, the print-cloths or other outer fabrics which form the two faces ofthe comfortables are unwound from rolls or beams,and the fillingmaterial,which is in the form of laps taken from a carding-engine orother machine, is unwound and spread out between the con vergingportions of the two face fabrics as they pass between two feeding ordrawing rolls. The compound and continuous fabric thus produced is oftenpassed directly and continuously through a gang sewingmachine having asufficient number of needles on one reciprocating needle-bar to quiltthe fabric throughout its width, and after being quilted the continuousfabric is cut transversely to form comfortables which are sewed andbound or hemmed all around their edges. It has also been proposed to sewthe side edges of the continuous fabric by separate needles at theopposite sides of the gang sewing-machine, attached to the sameneedle-bar as the quiltingneedles, or by means of twosingle-needlesewing-maohines, through or past which the fabric movesafter passing through the gang sewingmachine.

The methods of operation above described are objectionable for severalreasons. The two face fabrics are often uneven, lapping or extending onebeyond the other at the edges, and the compound fabric is quilted'withthe edges in such uneven condition,thereby necessitating a reduction inthe width of the fabric when the longitudinal edges are sewed andfinished. The cotton or wool used as filling, whether supplied from alap or spread by hand between the face fabrics, will also besomewhatun'even and will project slightly beyond or fall short of theedges of the face fabric, and pieces of the filling are apt to be caughtand pulled or shaken out while passing through the gang sewing-machineand before the longitudinal edges of the fabric are sewed up andfinished.

Any method in which the edges of the continuous fabric are sewed andfinished by needles or machines operating in connection wit-h thegang-machine and while the fabric is under tension, or is in its directand continuous travel through the gang-machine, is also objectionablefor the reason that any derangement of the needles or machines forsewing the edges will necessitate the instant stoppage of thegang-machine and a suspension of operation until the defect can beremedied.

The object of my invention is to improve I upon the methods abovedescribed so that the compound fabric, before'being passed through thegang-machine to be quilted, or before being out transversely to. ,formcomfortables, shall have its longitudinal edges evened and sewed orfinished, thereby avoiding the objections above referred to.

My improved method consists, essentially, in bringing together twocontinuous face fabrics and an interposed filling, in securing themtogether at their longitudinal edges to form a compound fabric havingits face fabrics united at the longitudinal edges, and in subsequentlyquilting the compound fabric in order to secure the face fabrics andfilling together between their longitudinal edges,as distinguished fromthe method of making conifortables which involves the quilting of thecompound fabric before or at the same time that its longitudinal edgesare secured.

Myimproved method also consists in bringing together two continuous facefabrics and an interposed filling, in securing them together at theirlongitudinal edges to form a continu ous compound fabric having its facefabrics united at'their longitudinal edges, and in afterward passing thecompound fabric through a gang sewing-machine to quilt it, and cuttingthe fabric transversely to form comfortables, as distinguished from amethod of making comfortables which involves the quilting of thecompound fabric before or at thesame time that its longitudinal edgesare secured.

The method also consists in bringing together two continuous facefabrics and an interposed filling to form a continuous compound fabric,in then sewing the longitudinal edges of the compound fabric, and inafterward passing the fabric through a gang sewing-machine 5 D, overwhich they pass.

to quilt it throughout its width, and then cutting the quilted fabrictransversely to form comfortables.

In carrying out this method I prefer to keep 5 a surplus of the compoundfabric with finished longitudinal edges between the sewing-ma- ,ehineswhich sew the edges and the gang sewing-machine, and then theedge-sewing machines can be stopped for a time without necessitating thestopping of the gang-machine.

This surplus of fabric, which is ready for the gang-machine, enables theedge-sewing machines to be fixed in case of their derangement withoutstopping the gang machine, and it also enables two operators to do theedge sewing of the fabrics for two'gang-machines, the edge sewing of thetwo fabrics being performed alternately, and a surplus of fabric havingfinished edges being provided for passage through 0 one gang-machine,while the operators are proimprovement in either the gang sewing-machine or edge-sewing machines, and hence I have shown in the drawingsarbitrary representations of such machines. Such machines may be ofsimilar construction to those ordi- 5 narily employed. The gangsewing-machine A has a reciprocating needle-bar carrying a sufficientnumber of needles to quilt the fabric throughout the whole or any partof its width, and the edge-sewing machines B having each a a singleneedle and being of usual or any suitable construction.

Thetwo print-cloths or face fabrics c c are taken from beams or rolls 0and converge to an idler-roll, (1, arranged above a table or bed, Thefilling, which is interposed between the two face fabrics c to form thecompound fabric a, is unwound from laps e, which are produced by acardingengine or other machine; or it may be spread 3 in a loose stateby hand. The table or bed D extends forward to the gang sewing-machine,and in front of the edge-sewing machines B is a pair of feed-rolls, f,which may be geared together and driven with a step-by-step move- 5 mentor continuously.

By the feed-rolls f the compound fabric is drawn forward through or pastthe edgesewing machines B, and by the operators at these machines theface fabrics c and filling are evened at the longitudinal edges. andsewed together or finished. The compound fabric 0', before it passes tothe gang sewing machine A, has its longitudinal edges evened andfinished and the filling secured and protected at 5 these edges. ,Iprefer to have a surplus of compound fabric c with finished edgesaccumulate in folds on the table D,.between the feed-rolls f and thefeed-rolls h, which are behind the needle-bar of the gang-machine A, andthen the edge-sewing machines B may be stopped for a time withoutnecessitating the stoppage of the gang-machine. After the compoundfabric c has been quilted by the gang-machine it may be cut transverselyto form the individual comfortables, which then have their remainingedges finished.

In some cases I may sew and finish the longitudinal edges of thecompound fabric by the edge-sewing machines B, and then cut ittransversely without passing it through the gangmaehine, and suchcomfortables would then be quilted on another machine.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The improvement in the method of making comfortables, consisting inbringing together two continuous face fabrics and an interposed filling,in securing them together at their longitudinal edges to form a compoundfabric having its face fabrics united at their longitudinal edges, andin subsequently quilting the compound fabric in order to secure the facefabrics and filling together between their longitudinal edges, asdistinguished from a method of making comfortables which involves thequilting of the compound fabric before or at the same time that itslongitudinal edges are secured, substantially as herein described.

2. The, improvement in the method of making comfortables, consisting inbringing together two continuous face fabrics and an in terposedfilling, and in securing them together at their longitudinal edges toform a continuous compound fabric having its face fabrics united attheir longitudinal edges, and in afterward passing the compound fabricthrough a gang sewing-machine to quilt it, and then cutting the quiltedfabric transversely to form comfortables, as distinguished from a methodof making comfortables which involves the quilting of the fabric beforeor at the same time that its longitudinal edges are secured,substantially as herein described.

, 3. The improvementin the method of mak ing comfortables, consisting inbringing together two continuous face fabrics and an interposingfilling, and in securing them together at. their longitudinal edges toform a continuous compound fabric having its face fabrics united at thelongitudinal edges, in maintaining a surplus of the fabric,with itsunited longitudinal edges in advance of the edge-sewing machine, andthen passing the fabric from such surplus through a gang sewing-machinefor quilting it between its longitudinal edges, and in finally cuttingthe compound quilted fabric transversely to form comfortables, substantially as herein described.

' FRANK L. PALMER. Witnesses:

. FREDK. HAYN'fis,

HENRYMGBRIDE.

